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About this project

What We Are

Brew's will be a multi-use space in Northeast Minneapolis. In addition to serving specialty coffee and selling books and artwork on consignment, the space will feature a small stage for weekly theater productions (and related performances), writing studios for rent, and a personal lending library. The space won't be a typical coffee shop - nor a typical coffee-bookstore. We want to serve the artistic community by providing cheap or free spaces for people to congregate and discuss or express themselves. We will have a small stage for author readings and perhaps performances of short plays. The spaces we are currently looking at will be highly adaptable to the needs of the community of artists we have in Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Coffee

Our coffee will come from a local roaster who supports direct trade coffee beans, or coffee that comes straight from the farmers. We will serve light to medium-roasted coffees on a variety of slow brew methods including V60 pour-overs, chemex, and french press. A manual or lever espresso machine will also be used for espresso-based drinks. This type of machine gives the barista more control over extracting the coffee. Additionally, we will regularly experiment with discovering new methods of extracting coffee - namely, methods we believe to be more sustainable.

Bookstore and Library

We're tired of selling
books online and we think you are too. There's very little or no connection when we sell books in mass to online retailers or even local bookstore. We want you to keep the books you read within the community by selling your books - including those you've written yourself - in our store on a 70 percent
consignment rate. That is, if your book sells we keep 30 percent and you
keep the majority. No upfront cost involved. If you donate to our
Kickstarter, you can sell some of your books consignment-free in the
space. We will also be keeping a lending library for loaning of books to
community members. These books will consist mostly of literary fiction,
zines from around the country, and books related to radicalism and
sustainability.

Sustainability

One of our first concerns is sustainable, ecological practice. We promise to be as green as we can be in two environmentally taxing industries, coffee and publishing. Our sustainable action will begin with purchasing second and used furnishings for the space. Any food served in the shop will be sourced locally if possible. Our focus will not be high quality and locally-made products.

A Place to Learn and Play

Brew's will be a space you can use not only to write, drink coffee, and sell your books or artwork. We also want you to put your thoughts into action. Feel free to teach a class, perform a play, participate in a discussion group, join a sewing circle or read a book aloud. We want the space to enable and connect you to your surroundings. Communicating and playing games are essential forms of learning. Please use us to help your community by sharing with others the skills you know and the things you love.

Funding

Your support will go towards making this space come alive. We need to cover the first month's rent and deposit, business licenses, permits, build book shelves, furnish the space, and construct small stage. We will be making every effort to get this equipment second hand to minimize both the cost and the environmental damage created from purchasing new goods.

There are several rewards for you in exchange for your help and support. We are offering coffee, custom designed matchbooks, coffee zines, consignment-free selling of your artwork or books in the space, admission to our theater and other happenings, and writing studio rentals.

For those of you who are new to Kickstarter, the deal is this: if we fail to reach our funding goal of $32,000 then you aren't charged. And if we raise above the goal then you will be able to enjoy our space all the sooner.

Thank you for your support! Please send a message if you have any questions.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

a handmade postcard mailed to you monthly for six months. we'll update you, with handwriting and drawings, on how the shop is coming along! plus 10 free coffees, an issue of coffee zine, and admission to one theater performance or other shop event